Should've Been A Cowboy & Cowboy Up: Should've Been a Cowboy / Cowboy Up

“Don’t worry. He is.”

Alex covered his reaction with a coughing fit as Tyler, cheeks pink, quickly left the room.

“Oh, dear.” Sarah peered at him. “I hope you’re not getting sick.”

“I’m fine. Just swallowed wrong.”

“Listen, it’s not my place to interfere, but I think that girl is extremely focused on getting her promotion. And I don’t blame her. That’s impressive, being named a cruise director at her age.”

Alex gazed into Sarah’s blue eyes, so much like Gabe’s. Although Sarah was a devoted mother to all three men, Gabe was her only biological child. Jack had been four when she’d married his father, and then baby Nick had appeared on the doorstep, the unexpected result of Jonathan’s affair in the period between his divorce from Jack’s mother and meeting Sarah. Sarah had accepted all three boys as hers to raise. In fact, she was fast becoming a second mother to him, as well.

“I know Tyler’s dedicated to her career,” Alex said. “And I think that’s great.”

“It is great. People should have jobs they love.” Sarah laid a hand on his damp sleeve. “But it means she won’t be sticking around here.”

“No, she won’t. I understand that, too.”

Sarah squeezed his arm and let go. “I hope you do, because I’ve seen the way you look at each other.”

“It’ll be okay.” He was touched by the gentle nature of her concern. No doubt Josie’s warnings would come across like air-raid sirens.

“I probably shouldn’t have put her right across the hall from you, but I didn’t realize there was something going on between you two. Did it start last August?”

“Yeah.”

“I wondered after I thought about your reaction when she showed up here today. She’s a nice girl, and if I thought she’d consider staying, I’d be matchmaking like crazy. But she won’t, so I want you to be careful.”

“Thanks, Sarah.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I will.” Which was a damn lie, because it was too late to be careful. And he had a problem.

He could have dealt with the loss of great sex when Tyler left next week. He might not have been happy about it, but he could have managed.

Unfortunately for him, she’d chosen to sing “Oklahoma” in the middle of a rainstorm, and then she’d finished off her performance with a few dance steps. Watching her take that little bow, he’d felt his heart slip-sliding away. Halting that slide would be a real trick, but he’d have to try for both their sakes.

Chapter Six

Tyler thought about waiting for Alex before going down to dinner and decided against it. They were liable to catch enough flak for their flimsy caught-in-the-rain story, so she’d demonstrate to the family that she and Alex weren’t joined at the hip. She hoped they’d be joining different body parts later in the evening, but she’d like the next hour or so to be strictly PG-13.

She’d put on a clean pair of jeans and a black V-neck shirt. Then she added her turquoise necklace and earrings because...because she liked looking good. At times she wondered if she was too hung up on that.

Her job demanded that she be well groomed, and she’d always appreciated having a reason to dress well. But, to her surprise, she’d had fun getting all muddy and bedraggled. That would happen a lot on a ranch, where appearance wouldn’t count as much as performance.

She contemplated that as an appealing change of pace and discovered she didn’t recoil the way she might have a couple of years ago. She loved her job. She did. But sometimes the constant need to look great wore on her. She’d never admitted that to herself before.

As she descended the wide staircase to the first floor, she ran her hand along the banister again. Without Alex as a distraction, she could pause a moment and take in the welcoming sight of roomy leather chairs facing a gigantic rock fireplace. Framed family photographs lined the wooden mantel. A paperback lay on a small wooden table beside one of the chairs, as if someone had been quietly reading there and had left the book, planning to settle in for another relaxing moment later.

Home. The word hadn’t meant much to Tyler over the years. Home had been a battered van until she’d moved out on her own. She couldn’t call her tiny apartment home because she spent so little time there. Her collection of souvenirs was the only thing that marked it as hers. The cruise ship was luxurious, but it was where she worked. It wasn’t home, either.

The Last Chance represented home to Morgan now. Tyler had thought her sister was crazy to tie herself to a man and then compound that by getting pregnant. Both Morgan and Tyler had witnessed how marriage and kids had absorbed nearly all their mother’s time, giving her no chance to develop other interests or have a career.

But Morgan wouldn’t be living the kind of life their mother had lived. Morgan would have a house and plenty of relatives around to help babysit. It wouldn’t have to fall to the older siblings the way it had to Morgan and Tyler.

She’d taken Tyler on a quick tour before bringing her over here. Although Morgan’s home wouldn’t be quite this grand, it would be filled with light and space. It would be—no, it already was—a home.

Tyler pushed aside a prick of envy. She had the life she wanted, and it would only get better once she became a cruise director with the freedom to direct every aspect of the cruise experience. Someday in the far distant future she might want a home, but not yet, not when her dream was within reach.

Her route to the dining room took her down the same hallway she’d walked with Alex that afternoon. The left side was a wall of windows that provided a view of the Tetons during the day. Now the glass reflected the light from two wall sconces and the image of Tyler moving down the hall.

The right wall was covered with more framed family pictures, including some that looked as if they’d been taken fifty or sixty years ago. The O’Connelli family’s vagabond lifestyle hadn’t allowed for this kind of display. There had never been a wall available, and even a scrapbook would have been something to haul around and keep track of.

Tyler paused when she realized new pictures had been added, with people she knew well. She found a wedding shot of Morgan and Gabe, and another one of the entire wedding party, her included. Morgan hadn’t offered her a copy, probably because she hadn’t expected Tyler to want one. Keeping pictures around wasn’t exactly an O’Connelli tradition.

It was obviously a Chance tradition, though. Next to that were the photographs of Jack and Nick’s double wedding to Josie and Dominique. Tyler’s heart warmed when she found Alex smiling happily in the group shot. He’d donned Western wear for the ceremony. Maybe that was when he’d started to transform into a cowboy.

Studying the picture, she identified two people who had to be Mr. and Mrs. Keller. They were both tall and had facial features that reminded Tyler of both Alex and his sister, Josie. Common wisdom said a father’s appearance could indicate how his son would age. If so, Alex would still be a hunk in his fifties.

“I thought you’d already be tucking into your rib eye.”

She glanced down the hall to find the man himself walking toward her. She must have been deep in thought to have missed hearing his booted feet on the hardwood floor. He’d put on a clean pair of jeans and a white Western shirt with pearl-covered snaps. The yoke of the shirt emphasized his shoulders, which she’d swear were wider than they had been last summer.

He’d obviously taken time for a shower, because his dark blond hair was still damp and he smelled like soap, the manly kind featured in commercials showing a guy lathering up his brawny chest. She wouldn’t mind observing Alex doing that. In fact, she wouldn’t mind being the person wielding the washcloth.

She looked into his gray eyes and wished they weren’t expected at the dinner table. “I got caught up in the rogues’ gallery. Are these two your folks?”

“Yeah.” His expression softened. “They had such a good time. They might end up retiring in Jackson Hole, or at least spending their summers here and maybe winters somewhere a little warmer.”

It all sounded so normal. Tyler decided not to mention that her parents didn’t have a retirement plan. They just lived in the moment, taking life as it came. It drove her nuts. She’d already started an IRA.

Alex brushed his knuckle over her cheek. “You look nice.”

“You, too.”

He sighed. “We need to go. Mary Lou’s probably keeping our food warm.”

“So we’ll go.” She caught his hand and pressed it to her cheek before stepping away from him.

“Right. We’ll go.” But he didn’t move, just continued to look at her.

With a shake of her head, she turned and started down the hallway. “Come on, Alex. They’re expecting us.”

“Yeah, they are.” He fell into step beside her. “This is strange. I want to hold your hand, and yet I’d better not. I don’t want to be all that obvious, like it’s a done deal.”

“I know.” When they reached the large empty dining room where the midday meal was served, she could hear the buzz of conversation from the family dining area at the far end and through a set of open double doors. “I intended to get there ahead of you so we wouldn’t look quite so much like a couple.”

“So we won’t sit together unless that’s how it’s set up and we have no choice. You should probably try to sit next to Morgan. That’s who you’re here to see, after all.”

“And I plan to spend plenty of time with her. But she’s the one who wants me to sleep at the ranch house.”

He caught her arm, halting her progress. “And don’t think I don’t appreciate my good luck.”